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Simple Minds / Sparkle in the Rain: hi-res blu-ray audio with 5.1

By Paul Sinclair

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36

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Simple Minds Sparkle in the Rain reissue is due for release next month and it you aren’t convinced by the £40+ super deluxe box set then the blu-ray audio is an fine alternative and excellent value for money.

The blu-ray is a ‘pure audio’ disc and so doesn’t have any video content, but what it does include are three different audio versions of the 1984 album.

  • 1. A brand new Steven Wilson 5.1 surround sound mix of the album
  • 2. A brand new Steven Wilson STEREO remix of Sparkle in the Rain which like the 5.1 was created from the multi-track tapes.
  • 3. The original 1984 mix newly remastered at Abbey Road by Andrew Walter.

All the mixes are of course hi-res. I’ve heard the Steven Wilson surround mix and it’s excellent. All of the above are included in the box set but on a DVD-Video/Audio disc. Of course the box offers lots of bonus audio not included o the blu-ray. This Simple Minds release and the formats very much follows the pattern of Tears For Fears’ Songs For The Big Chair reissue from November last year.

The icing on the cake is that you can pick up the blu-ray for about £15 at the moment if you purchase from Amazon Italy, that’s about 25% cheaper than in the UK.

Sparkle in the Rain is re-released on 16 March 2015.

Blu-ray audio

Simple Minds / Sparkle in the Rain five disc super deluxe edition box

5-disc super deluxe box set

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36 Comments

36 thoughts on “Simple Minds / Sparkle in the Rain: hi-res blu-ray audio with 5.1”

  2. Its’ funny how a 40 min. album + 3 b-sides today manages getting a 5 disc treatment.
    Just like the sessions for sparkle produced abundance of material…

  4. I never go for express shipping with the EU amazons either. I once ordered the same item on express shipping (1-2 days) and on normal shipping (I wanted two). The 1-2 day shipping took about 3 days, from France. The normal shipping, they sent from Scotland – arrived next day!

    1. One tip is if you come across a too-good-to-be-true deal pay for the quickest shipping. You’re much more likely to get the product because by the time the price changes your shipping process is under way…

  5. Thanks for the reply Phil I had a feeling that would be the case with vouchers so didn’t try and redeem. Glad no customs duty as well. Cheers.

  6. You don’t get charged customs duty, as we are all EU countries, so no worries there. Not sure about vouchers, but I would guess .co.uk ones can only be used on that site.

  7. Thanks for the above info karen have just pre ordered the madonna deluxe and the cd single both cheaper than ordering thru the UK site. As mentioned above Google Chrome translates and all your UK log in details are there. Good info for future! Just couple of questions do you get charged any customs duty? And also would it accept an Amazon UK gift card for purchases on these European sites? Many thanks for any response.

  8. I have ordered from 4 of the Amazon European sites (.fr .de .es .it) and not had any problems from any of them. They usually deliver within 2 days, and sometimes the items are sent from Scotland anyway!

  9. I did some price checking, while ‘trying’ to watch the Casual Vacancy on BBC (found it a bit boring).

    This is the box set I checked for prices. The postage was around 4 euros to the UK

    Amazon Spain 39.67 euros £33, includes postage to UK

    Amazon Germany 48.99 euros £39 includes postage to UK

    Amazon France 44,99 euros £36 includes postage to UK

    Has anyone in the UK ordered from European Amazons, if so, would the box sets be in English (the writing on the outside, and booklet inside).

    I have heard Amazon Germany has a good reputation for delivery, the others?

    Also, I have heard on the grapevine, that many Madonna fans are ordering her new album Rebel Heart Super Deluxe, on Amazon Germany. 29,99 Euros, with postage coming in around £22.00 compared to Amazon UK £42 (although to be fair to Amazon UK, they are saying ‘import’), and it is being released early in Germany, 6 March.

    1. Yes the booklets etc. would be in English. As I’ve mentioned before if you use Google Chrome when using ‘European’ Amazons you side-step translation issues because they do it for you. But the best thing is all the amazons accept login/passwords from other sites, so no faffing around with re-registering etc.

  10. I see people asking for “new gold dream”. I assume that you mean/want a blue-ray? Given the fact that a remastered dvd-a exists already, and a good one at that too.

    1. The Dvd-A for New Gold Dream was basically a new surround mix of the album. For the original, there was also a SACD. Both are hard to come by and expensive.

      Also, there was a new vocal version of ‘in every heaven’

      tracks DVD-a [diffs from album versions]
      ——————————————————————-
      5:22 1 Someone Somewhere In Summertime [0:45s]
      3:50 2 Colours Fly And Catherine Wheel
      4:28 3 Promised You A Miracle
      5:27 4 Big Sleep [0:29s]
      5:45 5 Somebody Up There Likes You [0:49s]
      6:08 6 New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84) [0:32s]
      4:40 7 Glittering Prize [0:07s]
      6:09 8 Hunter And The Hunted [0:16s]
      7:32 9 King Is White And In The Crowd [0:33s]
      4:51 10 In every heaven

      video tracks
      ————————————————
      4:03 1 promised you a miracle (video edit)
      4:03 2 glittering prize (new surround edit)

      the video track for ‘glittering prize’
      contains new surround tracks that are
      different from the dvd-a track. this
      is the original album edit.

      later
      -1

  11. I’ve just done a check of US and UK prices. Yow. If you’re in Oz, sadly, even Amazon Italy may be too expensive. The Aust. $ has plummeted in recent months.

  13. Andrew (Andy) Walter did a new stereo remaster? You mean that guy is still employed after he destroyed the Spandau and Duran reissues in 2010?? Those were the worst remasters I’ve ever heard, so his name is a curse in any credits.

      1. Overall the TFF box did sound good, however, even mentioned on the Hoffman forums (and I concur) is that the original album (CD1 trks 1-8) has it’s stereo image off-balance. It leans more to the left by 1-2.5 dB

        As far as I am concerned, he’s a hack.

    2. Yeah have to say that the Journeys to Glory remaster is the worst remaster I have *ever* heard bar none. I decided to keep the original CD after hearing how awful the remaster sounded.
      I will certainly approach anything remastered by this guy with real caution.

  14. Has anyone ordered from the site Marko mentioned, the grooves-inc.com?

    I have sent feedback to amazon.uk that this site has lower prices, if a few others send to amazon.uk as well maybe they will lower prices which would be good for all of us if we get some more lower prices.

    The TFF SFBC boxset went down to 32 pound price on amazon.uk, so far they are keeping to 45 pound price for Simple Minds, not sure why so much higher.

  15. The sound on this album was always very ‘dense’. More frontal assault than ‘wall of sound’. Don’t get me wrong, I love this album but if you can only afford one I’d go for the box – the DVDA will have the high res anyway no? I’ll be doomed to get both (and a reissued vinyl if they release it) as well as anything else up to and including Once Upon A Time (especially if the do New Gold Dream *81*82*83*84)

  16. I wasn’t going to buy the box as the only content I wanted was on the blu-ray – however the box itself will sit nicely with the rest of my super deluxe boxes i.e. TFF plus amazon.es are currently selling it at 43 euros including delivery, which will probably be about a tenner by the same the box gets release due to the exchange rate at the moment :-)

  18. I’m only buying it for the live disc. I was never impressed with Steve Lillywhites production on this album….not enough bass, too much drum. Hopefully Steven Wilson has done his magic as usual and transformed it

        1. The DVD has the following on it which aren’t on the blu-ray:

          • Waterfront (Promo Video)
          • Speed Your Love To Me (Promo Video)
          • Up On The Catwalk (Promo Video)
          • Waterfront (TOTP)
          • Speed Your Love (Oxford Road Show)
          • Up On The Catwalk (Oxford Road Show)

          The DVD also has lossless 5.1 (same as blu-ray) if you have a DVD-audio capable player.

    1. @Marko

      Thanks for highlighting the good price on the Grooves Inc site. That’s another site to keep on the radar for new and ongoing releases, I never knew that site existed, they seem quite competitive on a few things. I think I’ll try a lowish value purchase first to see if they’re any good.

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